This invention relates to programmable logic integrated circuit devices, and more particularly to function-specific blocks such as multipliers, arithmetic logic units, barrel shifters, and/or the like in programmable logic devices.
Programmable logic devices (“PLDs”) are well known as is shown, for example, by Jefferson et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,215,326 and Ngai et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,407,576. PLDs typically include many regions of programmable logic that are interconnectable in any of many different ways by programmable interconnection resources. Each logic region is programmable to perform any of several logic functions on input signals applied to that region from the interconnection resources. As a result of the logic function(s) it performs, each logic region produces one or more output signals that are applied to the interconnection resources. The interconnection resources typically include drivers, interconnection conductors, and programmable switches for selectively making connections between various interconnection conductors. The interconnection resources can generally be used to connect any logic region output to any logic region input; although to avoid having to devote a disproportionately large fraction of the device to interconnection resources, it is usually the case that only a subset of all possible interconnections can be made in any given programmed configuration of the PLD. Indeed, this last point is very important in the design of PLDs because interconnection resources must always be somewhat limited in PLDs having large logic capacity, and interconnection arrangements must therefore be provided that are flexible, efficient, and of adequate capacity without displacing excessive amounts of other resources such as logic.
Although only logic regions are mentioned above, it should also be noted that many PLDs also now include regions of memory that can be used as random access memory (“RAM”), read-only memory (“ROM”), content addressable memory (“CAM”), product term (“p-term”) logic, etc.
As the capacity and speed of PLDs has increased, there has been increasing interest in using them for signal or data processing tasks that may involve relatively large amounts of parallel information and that may require relatively complex manipulation, combination, and recombination of that information. Large numbers of signals in parallel consume a correspondingly large amount of interconnection resources; and each time that information (or another combination or recombination that includes that information) must be routed within the device, another similar large amount of the interconnection resources is consumed. Improved PLD architectures are needed to better address these issues.